


The Path to Paradise

by bubblewrapstargirl



Series: Gladers [2]
Category: The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Babies, Canon Compliant, Canon Het Relationship, Future Fic, Gen, M/M, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-04
Updated: 2014-07-04
Packaged: 2018-02-07 09:26:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1893870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubblewrapstargirl/pseuds/bubblewrapstargirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Brenda dies in childbirth, Minho helps Thomas to pick up the pieces.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Path to Paradise

After all that they went through, Thomas didn't think there was any pain left in this world that he couldn't greet like an old friend. No new brain pattern left for his mind to explore as he sucked in useless breath, gasp after gasp, feeling his heart expand and contract, wither and die. Taunting him with how wrong he'd been. Losing Brenda plunges him into a pit of depression he's not sure he'll ever come back from. They were supposed to be safe here, at last, free and independent. But there is still sickness; hardship. The old and the young die mercilessly, just as they always have.

Thomas spends whole days sitting in darkness, staring at nothing, not seeing the bare wooden walls, just the torment of his memories. He waits in vain for the ache to stop. Sometimes, the baby's cries break through his funk, always followed by Minho's rumbles, telling his son off for being so buggin' impatient when food was on the way. It's been two whole weeks, and the boy still doesn't have a name. Thomas can barely stand to think of him.

Minho puts an end to all his self-pity pretty quick after that. He forces Thomas into the river to bathe (they still haven't mastered running water, though they have three wells in the town now). He scrubs Thomas' greasy, lank hair with the flower oil the older women make, drags him home and forces him to eat. Makes him hold the baby, who stares up at Thomas with innocent joy, bright blue eyes full of wonder, if a little unfocused. Tells him to pull his shank self together, before Minho is forced to knock some sense into his klunk-filled head.

"You think she'd want you moping about like this? She'd break your nose, slinthead, if she knew you were neglecting her kid."

Thomas certainly couldn't argue with that. Brenda was one of the toughest people he knew. Used to know. But he does manage to pull his head out of the klunk after that. Knows that he has no choice; you have to keep moving forward or you break down, no use to anyone. Newt taught him that.

He takes the baby to the next Gathering, tells the Community the newborn's name. Minho and Frypan shoot him unreadable looks when he introduces them to baby Isaac, but neither of them says a word. Thomas is glad for it; knows he wouldn't have been able to stand hearing Newt's name being called across the village, but needing to honour his sacrifice nethertheless, to remember the friend he'd lost. The cost of their little patch of paradise.

Sonya from the old girl's group is Isaac's wet nurse. She has a little girl of her own, with one of the Immunes captured by WICKED, during the last days of the Old World. They don't talk about it much, the events that led them here. It was discussed a lot in the beginning, as a way to explain to the adults why they weren't children that needed to be coddled. Thomas, Minho and Harriet all have seats on the Paradise Council. It's been five years since they escaped the meltdown of civilization and established the village, and most ex-Gladers and girls from Group B have settled into life here. They don't talk about Before. No one wants to remember the town's origins.

But there are still screams that can be heard in the night, still times when someone will break down in the middle of seemingly harmless tasks. Thomas frequently hallucinates Grievers rolling down the hills, or Cranks hiding in the shadows. His nightmares are filled with endless Mazes he can never escape as he runs to the sound of Newt's screaming voice. They are all broken shells of the people they were before the Trials; the people they could have been.

Thomas tries his best not to remember. Over the years, the effectiveness of the Swipe wore off; he was gradually reintroduced to the lonely child WICKED had brainwashed. On the second anniversary of Newt's death, he'd broken down in Minho's arms sobbing and begging for forgiveness. When Minho had finally realised what his demented ramblings meant, he'd erupted in angry bellows, lashing out at the bushes all around them, tearing the plants apart till his bare hands were scratched and bleeding.

Eventually, Thomas regained enough clarity to understand what the older boy had been yelling the entire time; "He never stood a chance. They set it up so he never had a chance..."

It wasn't news - Minho had ranted about the Control group being doomed for the Flare, and a torturous death, many times before. But he was furious that another death, another terrible responsibility had been pushed onto Thomas, and yes, sickened by what he had done to Newt. Thomas suspected that Minho simply wasn't capable of forgiving him.

The road to healing had been rocky and full of pitfalls, for both of them. But living with the secret of Newt's death had been a poison, slowly eating away at what remained of Thomas' sanity. In the end, he was glad he'd finally admitted it. Minho looked at him differently, sometimes as though he was imagining Thomas pulling the trigger; but he always shook it off in the end. 

Life moved on.

It moved on after Brenda's death too. Isaac was a joy and a treasure. He is a calm, curious child with as sweet a disposition as any parent could ask for. After Brenda is gone and Thomas wakes up to his life, they move in to Minho's cabin. Until then, he'd lived alone, but Thomas couldn't shoulder the burden of child-rearing alone. He wasn't strong enough. Minho offered, and Thomas jumped at the chance before he changed his mind. The old cabin was filled with the ghosts of his happy life with Brenda.

Jorge was also invaluable. He took it upon himself to be Isaac's uncle, because the boy was all that remained of Brenda, and he did a great job of it. There isn't much call for a Berg pilot in Paradise, but Jorge has lots of transferable skills. His knowledge of mechanics and engineering has been essential to the building of the village and the water wells. Even if all they ever have to work with is wood, he'll be able to teach Isaac a whole host of skills. On his dark days, Thomas feels like he can only show his son how to run for his life. 

But together, they see that Isaac is safe and healthy. He grows so quickly in his first year, Thomas can barely believe it's the same boy who emerged into the world bloody, kicking and screaming blue murder. Thomas worries after him constantly, always hovering just within reach, as his son learns to crawl and then totter about on unsteady feet. No matter how often Minho calls him a silly shank and a slinthead, Thomas can't quite let go of the irrational fear that something terrible is going to whip out of the dark recess of his memories and snatch Isaac away from him. He's lost too much already; he won't lose his baby too. He'd die before he let his son experience one drop of the pain and terror they experienced growing up.

Minho and Thomas grow together like two sturdy trees entwining in their efforts to reach the sun. They don't intend to fall in love, but somewhere between the late-night talks and early-morning routines, soothed nightmares and running to let out the tension, baths for baby Isaac and lullabies to coax him to sleep, they become a family.

Crawling into Minho's arms seems only natural, his kisses inevitable. Minho fucks him like Thomas is something precious, to be cherished. He kisses the smiles from Thomas' lips like he wants to drink in the sunshine there. After their first night spent wrapped in one another's arms, Thomas knows he has finally found his home. 

**Author's Note:**

> The path to heaven runs through miles of clouded hell  
> \- Imagine Dragons
> 
> The path to paradise begins in hell  
> -Dante


End file.
